


You ain't scared, are ya?

by Jane_Oddbody



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-05-04 11:45:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14592330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jane_Oddbody/pseuds/Jane_Oddbody
Summary: Zero hasn't been back at Walter Manor long.  Rabbit decides he needs to have an initiation to be in the band.  Is Zero brave enough?  Is Rabbit up to one of her tricks?





	You ain't scared, are ya?

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I'm brand new to writing fan fiction (let alone for Steam Powered Giraffe). I've been reading a lot of the posts here and I hadn't seen very many stories with Zero in it, so I decided to write one for him. I hope you enjoy. :)

“CCCome on Zero, just a little further” said Rabbit looking back and wiggling her eyebrows at Zero. Rabbit was walking ahead of Zero with a flashlight trained on the dank and dusty hallway deep in the bowels of Walter Manor. When Rabbit told Zero that there was an initiation into being an official part of the Steam Man Band and to follow her, he did not expect to end up in a place like this. “Uuuuh, I don’t know about this Rabbit; The Spine said we wasn’t supposed to be wondering around down here,” said Zero looking around apprehensively. There were cobwebs hanging from the ceiling and every so often an odd spider or two. Zero did a double take. Did that one have a top hat and spats? Zero shook his head, “Rabbit, I don’t like it down here.” “Oh stop being such a bbbaby, you’re a big robut and you want to pass your initiation, don’t ya?” 

Zero pushed down his fear. He could do this. He could prove himself. He hadn’t been back at Walter Manor long and it had only been several months since the other robot’s memories of him had been restored. He wanted to make up for lost time, his past, and mostly he just wanted them to like him. He wanted to be part of the family.

Finally the hallway led to a maze of rooms that looked like it had once been some sort of laboratory / school. Zero didn’t know it but this had been where the early Cavalcadium had come to learn from Col Walter and where they had performed many blue matter experiments. Rabbit led him deep into the maze of rooms before finally stopping. “We’re here” said Rabbit flashing her light around the old dusty instruments. “Ssso this is where it happened” she said with a frown. “W..what happened,” said Zero. “Oh you dddon’t know?” Rabbit shook her head solemnly with a grim expression on her faceplate. Zero looked around nervously…”did something BAD happen here Rabbit? “Yyyes you, could definitely say that,” said Rabbit. “I guess you wouldn’t remember because it was before you were ppput together,” said Rabbit. Zero was nervous but curious. Rabbit continued, “back when Pappy was alive, they ppperformed experiments down here.” Rabbit stuck the flashlight under her chin to light her faceplate in a dramatically spooky way, “some say UNNATURAL….experiments….” Zero shivered a bit but hid it well. “But Rabbit, we’re robots, some say WE’RE unnatural,” said Zero. Rabbit gave one of her famous creepy laughs, “Oh Zero, iiiit’s so much worse.” Zero’s photoreceptors went wide.

Rabbit started to tell the tale. “Over 100 years ago Pappy and the Cavalcadium performed experiments down here”. “They ppperformed experiments on living things….changing them….sometimes in grotesque ways.” Rabbit wriggled her fingers on one hand for effect. “Pappy dddidn’t like those experiments and immediately put a stop to any more being done, but some of the Cavalcadium members carried on with experiments behind his back.” “One night after Pappy had gone to bbbed, a few of the Cavalcadium members snuck in to perform a dangerous experiment.” “That experiment went horribly wrong and mmmutated one of them into a hideous Monster!” “They say that Monster still lives down here in this very lllab to this day.”

Zero stood there with wide photoreceptors. He was scared for about two seconds until he remembered Norman. “Rabbit, that’s not scary at all,” he said “the same thing happened to Norman and he’s the nicest guy.” Rabbit remained in Vincent Price mode and said “oh pppoor Zero, this Monster is NOTHING like Norman.” “This mmmonster will eat anything, even ROBUTS,” she said, “it especially loves the taste of hydraulic fluid wwwarm from its victim.” Ok, that gave Zero a chill. Zero looked around the derelict lab complex and really could imagine a drooling monster thirsting for his hydraulic fluid hiding somewhere in the shadows. His fear was rising but he still managed to hide it. “But Rabbit, if there is a monster down here that wants to eat us, then why are we down here,” asked Zero. Rabbit finally removed the flashlight from under her chin and said, “wwwell since you are sorta the new robut, we have an initiation in order to be in the band,” Rabbit said. “We only want BRAVE robuts here," said Rabbit, "ssso you gotta prove you’re brave, Zero.” Zero frowned a bit. Rabbit slapped him on the shoulder, “oh ccc’mon, it’s just a story,” she said. “You ain’t scared, are ya?” While Zero was still trying to determine what he wanted his answer to be, Rabbit spoke quickly. “Ok, so your initiation is to find your way back up to the front hallway all by yyyourself,” she said, "oh, and you’ll be doing it in the dark!” Rabbit shut off the flashlight before Zero could react. The next thing he heard was Rabbit’s boots running away through the darkness as she shouted back “tttry not to get eaten!”

Rabbit ran a ways up the old hallway before she ducked into a side room. She laughed to herself. While Pappy and the Cavalcadium had certainly used that old lab complex for blue matter experiments, there was never any accident and there was never any monster. Rabbit switched out her boots for soft soled shoes she had hid there earlier. She was going to have so much fun messing with Zero.

Zero stood there in the dark. It was moments like these that he wished his photoreceptors had night vision like The Spine's. He had the urge to panic, but he was currently talking himself out of that notion. “C’mon Zero buddy, you can do this…,” he said to himself. Zero started to wander around the room and promptly bumped into one of the tables. Feeling his way around, he made his way out of that room and into the maze. He felt his way along the walls but kept finding dead ends. “ohh, which way did we come in,” Zero said to himself.

Zero walked towards the direction that he thought they had come when they came down to the lab complex. Ahead of Zero, he suddenly heard a faint scratching sound coming from one of the walls and came to a stop. Hmm…maybe it was a mouse? Zero shrugged and started to move forward. The scratching sound grew louder and his audioreceptors could tell that the sound was coming from a height well off the ground. Hmm…not a mouse? Zero stopped again and listened intently. The scratching sound stopped and Zero could hear something that sounded like breathing. Heavy breathing. “Hello….is somebody there,” Zero asked. The heavy breathing continued and sounded like it had started to move toward him. The scratching sound returned, only this time it sounded like something was dragging claws down the wall and it was approaching where Zero stood...."Hello?" Zero asked. There was no response just the dragging of claws on the wall and the sound of heavy breathing getting closer and closer to him. “Umm…nevermind,” Zero said and he turned and ran in the opposite direction from whatever was coming towards him. The hallway shook and a little plaster rained down from the ceiling in Zero’s wake. Rabbit listened to Zero running away and giggled to herself while brushing plaster off herself. That had almost worked too well, he had no idea it was her. She knew a shortcut to where he was heading. She ducked through another room and went to head Zero off.

Zero ran down the hallway feeling like he was being pursued. What was that? Was that the monster? Was it still after him? Zero whimpered to himself. “I need to hide,” he thought to himself. Zero slowed down in an effort to make his fleeing footsteps quiet. He felt the wall and found the entrance to another room on his left and went into it. There seemed to be a large work station in the middle of the room. Zero tiptoed around it and crouched down behind it.

Rabbit had reached a spot far ahead of the direction she heard Zero run towards. She waited around a corner for Zero to come running up the hallway. She giggled to herself. She was the queen of spooky, she knew how to scare em. She continued to wait….and wait. She couldn't even hear him approaching. She knew he wasn’t the fastest runner of the robots but this was taking a long time. Where is that robut?

Zero stayed crouched behind the work station for some time. How was he going to get out of this alive? Wait,... were robots even alive? Would the monster really eat him? Zero wrapped his arms around himself. “Oooh, I don’t want to be eaten,” he said forlornly. At that moment he heard a soft hiss in the room somewhere near him. Oh no, was that the monster? Had it found him? Or worse, was it a snake? Zero was scared of snakes. He really hoped it wasn't a snake. He also really hoped it wasn't the monster. Zero froze in panic. There was another hiss and it sounded closer this time. Zero started to whimper. There was a grinding sound and Zero could just make out the shadow of something large moving towards him in the dark. He started to whimper even louder and shake. “Please….please Mister Monster, don’t eat me,” he said as he tucked his head under his arms. A cold heavy claw landed on his shoulder and squeezed it's grip into it. Zero screamed…”Ahhh PLEASE DON’T EAT ME, I’VE BEEN A GOOD ROBOT…I…I…DON’T EVEN TASTE GOOD…PLEASE LET ME GO MISTER MONSTER!”………………

”Zero, what are you talking about” asked The Spine. Zero peeked up through his arms in time to see The Spine flick on a flashlight. Zero launched himself into The Spine’s legs, wrapping his arms around them and hugging them tight. “The Spine, oh buddy….I am sooo glad to see you” cried Zero. “Me and Rabbit came down here, and...and Rabbit told me about the horrible experiments that happened here and how there was this monster…and...and how the monster wants to eat me and drink my hydraulic fluid…and…and,” Zero rambled. “And then Rabbit left me," said Zero, "she ran away..and..OH SPINE…you can’t be down here!” The Spine gave Zero a questioning look. Zero continued, “THE MONSTER WILL GET YOU TOO, I THINK IT ALREADY ATE RABBIT!” The Spine frowned at Zero and said, “Rabbit brought you down here, you say?” Zero nodded. “And she told you there was a monster down here that…(??) eats robots,” asked The Spine. “Yeah, I think that’s why she ran away,” said Zero, “oh Spine, you don’t think the Monster got her do you!?” The Spine signed a cloud of steam, "hardly” said The Spine. “Zero, I believe Rabbit is playing a trick on you," said The Spine. Zero looked up at The Spine and asked, “why would she do that?” “It’s Rabbit,” said The Spine, “you know how she is, and when I saw her take a flashlight from the kitchen earlier and then later I couldn’t find either of you upstairs, I figured something was up.” The Spine continued, “I came down here to look for you two.” The Spine looked at Zero in a thoughtful manner and said, “how did she even convince you to come down here in the first place?” Zero responded, “she said it was an initiation to be part of the band and that only brave robots could be in the band." The Spine frowned, “Did she…,” said the Spine in an unamused tone. The Spine narrowed his photoreceptors and said, “I think we need to teach Rabbit a lesson,come with me.”

Rabbit huffed out a cloud of steam. She had been waiting behind that corner for at least 30 minutes. She was starting to get frustrated with Zero. How was she supposed to scare him if he didn’t stick with the program?! “Hmm , mmmaybe he went another direction,” Rabbit said to herself. She stood still and listened for any sign of Zero moving in the dark. Like Zero, Rabbit didn’t have night vision like The Spine, but she had been down in this lab complex enough times to have the place completely memorized. She could walk it blindfolded, or in pitch darkness such as it was now. Rabbit and The Jon used to come go down there and play a lot until The Spine got fed up after they had “accidently” removed each other’s arms while playing with the equipment on at least two, possibly three separate occasions. He had forbidden them from coming down here since then. The Spine was always overreacting like that and ruining their fun. 

Rabbit listened a little longer but could hear no sign of Zero moving around. “Eh, I bbbetter see if I can find him,” she said and started to walk back up the hallway. She walked for a little while until she suddenly heard a scratching sound coming from one of the walls far ahead of her. Well there WAS mice down here after all she thought to herself. She shrugged and continued forward. The scratching sound began to get louder and was noticeably higher up the wall than a mouse could reach. “Hmm, not a mmmouse,” Rabbit said, “…but I bet it’s a BIG RAT…YYYOU’RE NOT FOOLING ME ZERO!…THAT’S MY TRICK!” There was no response from the direction of the scratching, it just continued only now it sounded deeper like claws digging into the wall and heavy breathing. “Oh HA-HA...yyyou’re soooooo original, Zero,” said Rabbit. “I’m just gonna wait right here until you ssstop this nonsense,” said Rabbit. The clawing continued and the breathing had turned into a low growl. Hmm, he really wasn’t going to give this up, was he? Rabbit stood there getting annoyed when she suddenly heard a scratching sound coming from the direction behind her. That wasn’t right, it had only been her and Zero down here. If Zero was in front of her, who was behind her? The scratching behind her also deepened and started to sound like claws being dug into the wall and she could hear a snarl from whatever was behind her. “Um….Zero?” Rabbit stood there looking back and forth in each direction when the sounds started to head towards her. There was a snarl from one direction and an ungodly deep roar from the other. There was nowhere for her to run. Whatever monsters had her blocked in the hallway started to move toward her rapidly and came racing toward her at inhuman speed from either direction. 

Rabbit saw two huge forms descending upon her, both making snarling and growling noises. She screamed and curled into a shuddering ball on the floor with her arms over her head. The two monsters stood over her growling and gnashing their jaws at her. “I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A STORY…PPPLEASE DON’T EAT ME,” Rabbit cried. Both monsters dove upon her and she screamed again as they started to………..tickle her? “HAHAHAHA…HEY…HEHEHE…wait..what?” 

A flashlight clicked on to reveal Zero and The Spine. Zero grinned broadly and looked down at her and said, “what’s a matter Rabbit, you ain’t scared are ya?” Rabbit looked at Zero, thunderstruck for a moment, and then proceeded to laugh. “You got me good Zero, I’m ppproud of ya,” Rabbit said. The Spine looked down at Rabbit with a frown and raised one eyebrow at her. Uh oh, she knew that look. “Rabbit, I think you owe Zero an apology,” The Spine said, “that wasn’t very nice of you to bring him down here just to scare him and even worse to tell him he had to have initiation to be in the band.” The Spine continued, “he’s always been part of us, even though he was removed from our memories for a while." Rabbit frowned and looked down. The Spine was right. “I’m sssorry Zero, I shouldn’t have brought you down here and tried to scare you,” she said, “it was wrong of me to tell you that you had to have an initiation to be in the band.” Rabbit continued, “you’re a big brave rrrobut and even if you weren’t,” she said, “you would STILL be part of us because you’re fffamily.” Zero looked at her with big photoreceptors, “you mean that Rabbit?” Rabbit looked up and smiled, “yeah, yyyeah I do.” Zero grabbed Rabbit in a big bear hug. “Ok, ok…yyyou’re crushing me now,” said Rabbit between bellow gasps. “Ok you two, time to head back upstairs,” said The Spine, “Zero, I think there’s an icecream with your name on it…..Rabbit, I think there’s a giant litterbox with YOUR name on it.” “Awww, cccmon Spine…”whined Rabbit. “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time,” said The Spine with a smirk. Rabbit rolled her eyes and then gave a little salute, “Okay Sheriff Spine, you’re the law in these here parts.” “Darn tootin,” said The Spine as they all headed back up to the main floor of Walter Manor. Zero was happy, he was part of the family.


End file.
